Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Try this bailout

Found this solution on theSF Chronicleof all places....

     if the government buys the mortgage-backed securities, that does nothing - absolutely nothing - to make the underlying mortgages more valuable or more likely to be paid, stabilize home prices or help homeowners in distress. It does nothing - absolutely nothing - to directly benefit the real economy.

But another proposal does. Use the $700 billion on the table and stabilize housing. Make that money (actually only a fraction would be needed) available to homeowners who live in their homes (not speculators). Here's how: Offer any financial institution (or require it, although no financial institution in its right mind would refuse the offer anyway), that owns a mortgage of an owner-occupied home in distress, to provide that homeowner, in lieu of any penalties or foreclosure, a government guarantee of the current or missed payments under the mortgage. If the homeowner agrees to have the government take over the payments, the financial institution would inform the government, the government would make the payments, and the homeowner in exchange would sign a note agreeing to repay the government some years in the future (say, 10), with interest at the same rate currently required under the homeowner's mortgage.

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